Although Hulu is mainly known for its horror TV shows like Hannibal, American Horror Story, and The Exorcist, the streaming service also has a decent amount of scary films. With this list, we cover 10 horror films that you should catch during the spooky season this year.
10. Little Monsters (2019)
Little Monsters stars Lupita Nyong’o as a kindergarten teacher who teams up with a musician and children’s television actor to protect a group of young students as they are attacked during a zombie outbreak. Nyong’o has to keep her students safe while hiding them from the horror of what’s happening around them. Her performance is both comedic and emotionally moving at times. It’s a horror comedy that’s perfect as a crowd-pleaser.
9. Thelma (2017)
Joachim Trier (of The Worst Person in the World fame) directed a supernatural thriller about a young woman named Thelma (Eili Harboe) who discovers she has powers that present themselves when she feels desire for a female student at her university. The film draws parallels to Brian De Palma’s Carrie (1976) in its exploration of religion, repression, and sexuality that manifest into telekinetic powers.
8. Oculus (2013)
Before making his Netflix horror projects The Haunting of Hill House and Midnight Mass, director Mike Flanagan extended his own short film to feature length. Oculus follows Kaylie (Karen Gillan), Tim (Brenton Thwaites), and a haunted mirror. Flanagan expertly balances the mirror’s horror in two different timelines – one where the characters are all children and another as adults. The mirror forces Kaylie and Tim to reckon with their pasts, including their parents’ (Rory Cochrane and Katee Sackhoff) untimely deaths.
7. Unsane (2018)
Unsane tells the story of a woman named Sawyer (Claire Foy) who is sent to a mental health institution after being pursued by a stalker (Joshua Leonard). This concept examines how mental health is poorly handled under American capitalism with profits valued over improving patients’ lives. As one of the most creative directors working today, Steven Soderbergh shot the entire film on an iPhone 7 Plus. It’s a testament to the direction that this psychological thriller can be as scary as it is with such a simple filming technique. Because of this, it belongs in a long list of low-budget horror films that punched above their weight, making the most with a small amount of resources.
6. Possessor (2020)
Possessor takes place in a future where people possess others to commit crimes. Tasya Vos (Andrea Riseborough) is an assassin that works for an organization conducting these crimes through a remote brain link between the assassin and an unknowing host, Colin (Christopher Abbott). The film is directed by Brandon Cronenberg, son of famed body horror director David Cronenberg. Like his father, Brandon explores the relationship between the physical and mental, using body horror to portray the fight between Colin and Tasya erupting inside Colin’s head. On top of probably being the bloodiest horror movies of the year, Possessor is also a riveting sci-fi film.
5. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
The Blair Witch Project follows three college students investigating the Blair Witch legend. As they travel into the woods, they find that the legend is real and chaos ensues. For better or worse, the film brought two decades of found footage films. Although it’s not the first found footage film, it was the first promoted to a wide audience through an early viral Internet campaign – at the time, viewers were under the impression that the movie might be real. In this way, The Blair Witch Project was not only innovative in terms of horror filmmaking but also horror movie advertising.
4. Black Swan (2010)
Director Darren Aronofsky is known for his dark themes with films like Requiem for a Dream (2000) and The Wrestler (2008) preceding 2010’s Black Swan. The film follows Nina (Natalie Portman), a ballerina who is cast as the lead in Swan Lake. Portman won her only Oscar for this performance. The emotional crux of her performance comes from her attempts to embody the “black swan” as she competes with a new dancer played by Mila Kunis. The film is a psychological horror that depicts the lengths an obsessed artist will go through to perfect their craft.
3. Titane (2021)
Behind director Julia Ducournau’s body horror and motor oil exists a moving family drama. As a follow-up to Raw (2016), Titane goes into similarly terrifying territory with the human body pushed past its limit. The film centers around Alexia (Agathe Rousselle in her film debut), a woman who had a titanium plate implanted in her skull as a child following a car accident. Notably, after the crash, Alexia’s father looks at her with contempt. This sets Alexia on a quest for acceptance – to find someone that can take her for all that she is. The film’s body horror only works to accentuate its themes, exploring topics such as gender and isolation.
2. Let the Right One In (2008)
Let the Right One In tells the story of a young boy named Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant) who befriends a young girl, Eli (Lina Leandersson). Oskar is often bullied at school. Eli encourages Oskar to stand up for himself. Tomas Alfredson’s film follows Oskar and Eli as they try to survive with Eli, who turns out to be a vampire, needing blood regularly. Oskar and Eli’s relationship is believable, and its box office success led to an American remake called Let Me In, led by Batman-director Matt Reeves.
1. The Sixth Sense (1999)
The Sixth Sense put M. Night Shyamalan on a shortlist of great genre filmmakers. Although many will remember the film for its twist, it boasts several truly frightening moments and great performances by Haley Joel Osment and Bruce Willis. The film was a huge success, earning $672.8 million at the box office and labeling Shyamalan as one of the greatest young directors of his time. However, the label largely harmed the director’s career, pushing him to go for similar mind-blowing moments in his next several projects to diminishing results. Lately, he has seen a revival of his career with films like Split resonating with audiences and critics alike.